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Workshop: (de)constructing UtopiaDesign in Eastern Europe from Thaw to Perestroika

Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield, May 2nd–3rd 2014

This two-day workshop will bring together members of academic and cultural institutions from across Europe and Russia in order to discuss key concepts, individuals, organisations and turning points that comprise the history of design in post-war Eastern Europe. In recent years, study of design has emerged as a unique way of understanding socialist culture due to the way it links societal ideals with economics, scientific and technological progress, consumption, the material practises of daily life, the imagined West and broader artistic culture.

While material culture studies have made a significant contribution to historians’ understanding of post-war life in socialist countries, a broader understanding of how the design profession sought to both construct and criticise the material environment of socialism is only just beginning to emerge. Through discussions generated by the workshop, we will consider the main aesthetic turning points of design in socialism in relation to socio-political contexts. By considering various approaches to design across the Eastern Bloc, we would also like to explore commonalities and exchanges among former Eastern Bloc countries. Finally, we would like to consider how museums and collections have presented this history. What role does design heritage play in contemporary post-socialist society?